This is a testimonial from the wife of a Calling Camp participant.

(This camp was held in for the Cross Trail Outfitters youth ministry.)

My name is Jess Temple and my husband, Jason, recently attended Calling Camp. I know you receive countless letters from parents (and the boys themselves) about how your ministry has touched their lives, but I wanted to take the time to share what a life changing event Calling Camp was to not only my husband, but to me as well.

Although he was only away at camp for 3 days, Jason came home a changed man. By that, I don’t mean he came home on a spiritual “high” that lasted a few days, but that something about him was truly different. Jason was raised in a Christian family and was saved at a young age (we both were), he grew up attending church every Sunday, participating in youth group and other “church” activities, and attending Bible camps all over the U.S. Despite all this, he always felt like there was something more, and this was a feeling he had expressed to me more than once over the 13 years since we first met.

Calling Camp opened my husband’s eyes. In those 3 short days, he grew leaps and bounds closer to God. He came home with a new outlook on life and is truly on fire for God. He is reading his Bible with more understanding than ever before, and each day God reveals something new to him.  Since camp, we have both really been reflecting on a specific point. As Christians, we have God living in us. We are sons and daughters of God. If this is the case then why is it that, so often today, this doesn’t make much of a noticeable difference in our lives? Shouldn’t we radiate the Holy Spirit and project something that makes us stand out? Something that makes us different….something that draws others to us and to maybe even say, “I want what they have,” even if they don’t know exactly what that is?

For me, Calling Camp in itself was an answered prayer. In all the years I have known my husband, I have always felt that he would do something truly great with his life. Don’t get me wrong; he is probably one of the most caring, most talented and hardest working people you could ever hope to meet. A man who, in the eyes of many, is more accomplished than most people his age. When he got home, I had peace for the first time that he would figure out his calling. He didn’t come home knowing that being an Outfitter for CTO was what he was supposed to do, but he was determined to follow God’s will for his life, wherever that might lead him.

His passion and excitement has rubbed off on me and our relationship has been transformed as well. I feel closer to Jason than I ever have before and our marriage has become even stronger than it was. I am proud to say that, after much prayer and perhaps even more listening, Jason has received confirmation from God that he belongs with CTO. I truly believe that God has brought the people and circumstances to our lives to lead us to begin this journey with Cross Trail Outfitters and I couldn’t be more excited. I have never been more proud of my husband than I am today and I know that God will continue to amaze us with His power and grace. While CTO is about turning boys into Godly men, it has already been so much more to us. At Calling Camp, God reached my husband in a new way and all of the guys at camp helped make that possible. Not only did the experience bring Jason to a closer walk with God, but he also had such a connection to the guys there, he feels as though they are the brothers he never had.

To all of those involved in CTO, keep up the awesome work. You are touching more lives than you even realize.

Thanks again,

Jess Temple